Share, Preserve, and Reuse The SAA Dataverse Invites Data about Archives Erin Passehl Stoddart, Emily Lapworth, Maggie Hughes, and Jane Fiegel, SAA CORDA Data Repository Subcommittee S AA’s Committee on Research, Data, and Assessment (CORDA) was formed in 2019 to establish and provide access to a coherent set of resources and infrastructure for significant and useful data and research about SAA, American archives, and their users. CORDA was charged with developing a repository for data and other research outputs as part of SAA’s 2020–2022 Strategic Plan to “foster and disseminate research in and about the field.” During its first year, CORDA completed an environmental scan of social science and education data repositories. CORDA selected Dataverse, an open-source repository software applica-tion developed at Harvard University for archiving, sharing, and accessing research data. In 2021, SAA contracted with the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to host the repository, and the SAA Dataverse launched in July 2021. Now, CORDA invites all archivists to browse, submit, and reuse datasets! standards for trustworthy digital repositories, providing long-term data archiving, bit-level preservation, and data sharing that foster analysis, reuse, and new interpretations. The policy acknowledges that, as part of the Odum Institute, the SAA Dataverse will adhere to Findable, Accessible, Explore the SAA Dataverse Interoperable, and Reusable at https://dataverse.unc (FAIR) Guiding Principles for Scientific Data Management .edu/dataverse/saa and Stewardship. 2 Deposited data and associated documentation must have clear potential value to one or more of four designated communities: 1. Archives and records professions in North America, 2. Society of American Archivists, 3. Archival repositories, and 4. Individual professional archivists and archival scholars. The SAA Dataverse welcomes data created by the SAA community and allied organizations and individuals in four broad categories: 1. SAA-sponsored data, including data gathered by the Council, component groups, work supported by SAA Foundation funding, and selected materials related to the SAA Research Forum, 2. Archival repositories that gather data of interest and usefulness beyond the originating organization, 3. Individual professional archivists and archival scholars who gather data of broad interest and value, and 4. Authors publishing research in American Archivist , SAA’s semiannual journal. Collection Development Policy The SAA Dataverse aims to foster knowledge, insights, and a deeper understanding of archival organizations, the status of archivists, and the impact of archives and archival work on the broader society. With this in mind, CORDA drafted the SAA Dataverse Collection Development Policy and The SAA Dataverse presented it for public aims to foster comment in February 2021; the SAA Council approved it knowledge, insights, in March 2021. 1 The policy includes guiding principles, a collecting focus, submission requirements, accepted data formats, copyright and intellectual property rights, and a statement about deaccessioning. The repository aligns with 12 ARCHIVAL OUTLOOK and a deeper understanding of archival organizations, the status of archivists, and the impact of archives and archival work on the broader society. Policies, Procedures, and Types of Data CORDA developed initial policies and procedures for depositing datasets and associated documentation and presented them at the Dataverse Conversation Lounge at SAA’s 2021 Annual Meeting. The policies note that the SAA Dataverse will accept Continued on page 22>> March/April 2022
Archival Outlook March/April 2022: Page 12
